Celine Dion Debuted Her New Album With a Bunch of Drag Queens

The new Celine is finally here.

"I am more than thrilled," the Canadian singer said onstage at the Lips Drag Palace in New York City Thursday night at the official release party for her album Courage. "I'm so excited and I'm so honored that you're here tonight. I want to thank you so very much for your support throughout the years."

"This album has been a long process."

Courage marks Celine Dion's first English-language studio album in six years. It's affiliated North American tour will be the musician's first U.S. tour in over a decade. And so the performer wanted to bring things back with a little flair. What better way than with a few drag queens?

To release the new album, Dion put on a karaoke night at Lips. Ten guests performed the star's hits, interspersed with a drag show featuring the likes of Blackie O, Stephanie Stone and other "Lips Girls," in a show hosted by Ginger Snap. But at around midnight, Dion came to the stage for the official announcement that her new project was live.

"This album has been a long process," she said. "It has been making me travel through different emotions." The stunner, who was wearing Rodarte metallic trouser and blouse set, also acknowledged "it took a while."

"I hope Rene will like the album," she said referring to her husband, Rene Angelil, who died in 2014. "I hope you will like it as well; I put my heart into it." And with that, she left the stage, for the karaoke competition to end -- and undoubtedly to let her fans stream the new 16 track project (its a full 20 tracks on the deluxe version). And then, she came back.

"I can't leave, I can't leave," she said, after coming back to stage. "You can't get rid of me like that. I can't just say 'hi, thank you for your support, good night and have a good time.'"

"We're going to get some music going," she finished. She then launched into a crowd-assisted karaoke version of the single "Flying on My Own."